5 out of 5 stars
I don't know how I missed this one as a kid y'all. It was made for me. Okay, if it had been set in a library, THEN it would have been made for me. But this is pretty darn close. Wait. IS there a book where the kids get trapped/stay in a library overnight? If so, I NEEEED it! This book was published in 1967, which could be part of why I didn't read it, but still. It is so good!
First of all, the main girl is named Claudia Kincaid and is 12 years old, her younger brother is called Jamie, and they run off to New York City. Hello, BSC nods. Claudia is going to run away. She was the oldest child and the only girl and was subject to a lot of injustice. She saves her money for weeks and weeks, almost forgetting why she's actually running away, and makes extensive and detailed plans. ...she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to something. Specifically, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. (The MET) Her plan involves Jamie and his vast savings of $24.43, their instrument cases stuffed with socks & underwear, a note to their parents to not call the FBI, and hiding out in the bathrooms until the museum closed at night.
The book is loosely narrated by the enigmatic Mrs Basil E Frankweiler, a rich old lady who meets the children towards the end of their adventure and is captivated by their story. This is a surprisingly smart story for children. The author doesn't dumb things down for its readers but instead uses the big words and concepts and then explains them, usually to 9 year old Jamie. Mrs Basil E has some wonderful quotes too.
"I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It's hollow."
The children spend their days wandering the museum, actually learning things for once, and investigating the mysterious marble statue called Angel, rumored to be done by Michelangelo. This statue just happened to have been donated to the museum by Mrs Basil E. At night, they sleep amidst the old and musty and think about how hungry they are. They manage to stay gone for a solid week but at last, they end up at Mrs Basil E's mansion, tired and a little bit homesick. They ask her for the truth of the Angel and in exchange, she wants their account of their time away from home. And she writes it all down for her lawyer, (who has a surprising connection to the children) along with requests to update her will, which eventually becomes the book.
"...nothing is ever enough. Except the part you carry with you. It's the same as going on a vacation. Some people spend all their time on a vacation taking pictures so that when they get home they can show their friends evidence that they had a good time. They don't pause to let the vacation enter inside of them and take that home."
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